This squirrel rescued as a baby by a Turkish jeweller has repaid the kindness by becoming a guard for his cash drawer.

Every time anybody tries to take money from the drawer, they have to first of all get past the squirrel named ‘Memocan’, which is determined not to allow any withdrawals, except those by its saviour Mehmet Yuksel.

Mehmet explained that he had found the little squirrel together with two others after they had somehow been abandoned, and were too small to survive on their own.

The jeweller, who has a small farm where he cares for sick and injured animals, decided to nurse them back to health and the two siblings Memocan were later released back into the wild when they were older.

But Memocan had also suffered injuries which meant he was still not fit enough to go back into the wild, and so he was kept where he took it upon himself to become the guardian of the cash drawer, allowing nobody to make any withdrawals apart from Mehmet.

He said: “He acts like he’s trying to pay me back by looking after my money store.”

Online commentators joked that perhaps the squirrel thought the money was to humans like nuts are for squirrels, after seeing its owner taking cash and then restocking it.

Mehmet said: “He is a great friend and is very sure about his position as guardian of the drawer. He won’t let anyone but me reach in to make a withdrawal. The moment a foreign hand touches the drawer, he attacks. The only one he lets take money from the drawer is me.”

He said that sadly the treatment for the school’s other injury which was not specified is now almost complete, and reluctantly when it’s over he will have to release him back into nature.

He added: “I love him very much, but a squirrel is not a pet, and his real home should be in nature.”

However, he hopes that the story of the little squirrel will help to inspire others to care for animals and be more concerned about nature.